ERIC Number: EJ1405163
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
EISSN: EISSN-1467-8624
Preschoolers and Adults Metonymically Extend Proper Names to Owned Objects
Rebecca Zhu; Alison Gopnik
Child Development, v95 n1 p177-190 2024
Three preregistered experiments, conducted in 2021, investigated whether English-speaking American preschoolers (N = 120; 4-6 years; 54 females, predominantly White) and adults (N = 80; 18-52 years; 59 females, predominantly Asian) metonymically extend owners' names to owned objects--an extension not typically found in English. In Experiment 1, 5- and 6-year-olds and adults extended names to owned objects over duplicates (d = 0.34 in children; d = 1.13 in adults). In Experiment 2, 5- and 6-year-olds and adults extended names to owned over borrowed objects (d = 1.37 in children; d = 4.34 in adults). Experiment 3 replicated this finding with 4-year-olds (d = 0.43). Thus, English-speaking preschoolers can acquire semantic generalizations, even those not present in their language.
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/yj9ht/